Not on mute

Everyone knew Sandra to be the quiet lady of the company. Rarely will you see her in a conversation with anyone; she would only exchange pleasantries and that was it. No one knew she was the opposite of what they all thought her to be. At home, while conversing with her siblings, she would insult her co-workers, especially her boss whom she nicknamed *the wall gecko". She never knew that a day would come when what she saw to be fun, would betray her and put her in trouble.

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The company always held online meetings with those of a higher ranking every weekend, and Sandra didn't like this. These online meetings were the major cause of what seemed to be her troubles, as she wouldn't be able to go clubbing with her sisters. The calls felt like a continuation of the job she had already left behind at the office.

"Sandra, you can't keep doing this every weekend. You can still hang out while that call is ongoing." Tasha, her younger sister advised.

"So what can I do about this? I'm really tired but there's nothing I can do about this. My boss is so annoying; to top it all, he knows people use the weekend to take care of themselves, but he doesn't even care about all that. He would rather keep us here till midnight on a Saturday. I'm so tired." Sandra nagged.

"All these complaints won't change anything until you step up. You can't afford to miss the party tonight. A lot of cute boys will be pulling up with lots of cash to spare. Are you ready to forfeit all that fun, just to listen to your boring boss talk endlessly about some blind plan that he has for the company?" Tasha convinced her to attend the party.

The time for the party finally came, and the girls got ready. As Tasha helped Sandra pick a dress that would be suitable for the party, Sandra's phone began to ring. It was time for the company's online meeting.

"So Tasha, what should I do now?" Sandra asked.

"Put the call on mute. You can keep talking after that, and no one would hear a thing that you'll say until you turn off the muting if you feel a need to respond to anything." Tasha replied her.

Sandra picked up the call and tapped the mute button twice. She sat near the dressing table and applied her make-up. Her boss complimented those who had brought the company profits within the week, and he reprimanded those he accused of being nonchalant. Among these people, Sandra's name was on the list.

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"Did that wall gecko just call you nonchalant?" Tasha asked, and Sandra sighed.

"He's never satisfied with anything. I hate him so much. I overwork myself every single day for that godforsaken company, but that dude is never satisfied with anything." Sandra said bitterly.

"Am I that bad, Sandra?" A voice asked, and it startled the two sisters.

"What was that?" Tasha asked.

Sandra stared at her phone screen, and a scream left her mouth. She ended the call from her end and clamped her palm to her mouth. Tasha came to her side and stared at her, worried that something might have gone wrong.

"That was my boss." Sandra said with a voice that was almost close to a whisper.

"You didn't mute the call?" Tasha asked.

"I must've tapped the button twice. I thought I was on mute. What do I do now?" Sandra panicked.

"It can't be that bad. You don't know how much they heard." Tasha said, trying to comfort Sandra.

"I am so done. What do I do?" Sandra kept lamenting.

That night, the party was canceled, as Sandra couldn't get herself to leave her room. As the new week came, Sandra was the first to arrive at the office.
She worked more than she had ever worked before, and each time her boss passed her desk, she held her breath and prayed silently.
The whole day passed, and nobody said anything to her. After closing hours, her boss called her to his office. Sandra feared that she might lose her job.

"Sandra, are you frustrated working for me?" He asked her.

"No sir, I didn't mean for you to hear all of that. I thought I was on mute." Sandra apologized.

"It's all good. I'll try to be a better boss to you." The man replied.
Sandra was relieved that the issue didn't escalate, but after that day, she promised herself never to be on mute again whenever she was on a call.